Autocorrect-adverse CHAdeMO is a consortium of Japanese companies with the target of establishing a standard for the charging of EVs. According to the fountain of knowledge, “CHAdeMO is an abbreviation of “CHArge de MOve”, equivalent to “charge for moving”, and is a pun for O cha demo ikaga desuka in Japanese, meaning “How about some tea” (while charging) in English.” CHAdeMO was founded at the instigation of TEPCO. The power giant wanted a safe market for its quick-charge connector, it was hitherto known as “the CHAdeMO plug.” TEPCO is Tokyo’s disgraced power company, drop its name, and you will trigger a stream of invectives coming from otherwise composed Japanese. Which is probably what happened in a boardroom.

The presidency of CHAdeMO was in the hands of Tsunehisa Katsumata, a former TEPCO President who is still chairman of TEPCO and who holds the dubious title of Chairman of TEPCO’s Corporate Ethics Committee. Someone pulled the plug on Katsumata. In a terse statement, TEPCO announced that Katsumata will resign “in order to focus on the restoration efforts connected to the nuclear accident at Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant.” (Rub it in, boys.)

The CHAdeMO helm will be taken by Toshiyuki Shiga, COO of Nissan and Chairman of Japan’s influential auto manufacturers association JAMA. Shiga’s company probably is the largest customer of CHAdeMO plugs. As of August 22, 2011, Nissan had sold 12,087 Leafs worldwide, 5,287 of those in the U.S., 5,933 in Japan, 781 in Europe and 86 in the rest of the world. Plug-wise, Shiga has his hands full. The CHAdeMO plug dukes it out with the similar, but different SAE J1772 plug, which, ironically, is also a Japanese invention.

The CHAdeMO plug does not compete with the J1772 plug. The latter is a slow-charge plug designed for 120-240 VAC charging from a home circuit, CHAdeMO is designed for high-speed charging from a DC power source. You’re probably never going to have a CHAdeMO charging point in your personal garage, in much the same way that you won’t have a gasoline pump there either.

Indeed it is the power behind it, and I don’t think that actual houses are going to get 65 kW lines (on top of what the house already uses!) run to the premises anytime soon.

In Japan, though, who knows? Maybe they will; wouldn’t be half as crazy as their toilets. Don’t think it would happen in the US, though; our electrical grid is decrepit as it is.

The real problem is that a high-power quick-charge port isn’t an unassailable standard already, though. CHAdeMO is the only one with any serious traction in the market but other manufacturers are saying they’d prefer a backwards-compatible extension of SAE J1772 so you don’t have two different ports on your car. While that might be nice, CHAdeMO charging stations already, y’know, exist, so that’s a point in the other direction.

The 480v DC quick-charging CHAdeMO plug “dukes it out with” the 240v AC Level 2 J1772 plug like gasoline dukes it out with JP-8.

Most homes in the US should have no problems upgrading to a 30-50A 240v J1772 charger, which cost around a thousand bucks now (plus installation) and hopefully will drop in price precipitously.

480v DC fast-chargers will require significant infrastructure investment. These chargers are tens of thousands of dollars now; if they show up in homes (outside of one-off prototypes) it won’t be for tens of years.

Nissan has not released the number of firm orders for the 2011 Leaf SL that included the optional Quick Charge CHAdeMO port. Those of us who paid extra are hopeful that CHAdeMO chargers will be available for a fee to charge our cars when we make extended trips such as Los Angeles to San Diego. I vision leaving my home and making the 65 mile drive to San Diego and topping off at a CHAdeMO for an enjoyable day at the famous Zoo or Space Museum. If I want to return home the same day it will require another CHAdeMO Quick Charge for the round trip.

Normal day to day use is about 35 miles and I use the J-1772 port with the 120v EVSE that came with the car. Yes, the Leaf has two ports for the enjoyable occasion that I take extended trips. I believe there are already hundreds of Leaf owners with CHAdeMO ports in the Los Angeles area that would love to take a trip to the local mountains, Santa Barbara, Las Vegas or San Diego and use the Quick Charge electric highway as it has been proposed.

We are early adapters who want to show this technology at its best.

7-Eleven (#34758) at 3993 N Sierra Way San Bernardino,CA 92404 is a perfect example of a viable CHAdeMO Quick Charge location at the base of the San Bernardino mountains that would be a food and charge point for Leaf skiers, campers, hikers, astronomers, honeymooners and fishermen.

I have recently been allowed to use the public Eaton CHAdeMO Quick Charger at the Mitsubishi US Headquarters in Cypress, CA. The Leaf looked pretty coo surrounded by a ton of i MiEV’s. It believe there are untold advantages in having the 120v – 240v J-1772 port separate from the additional safety, engineering and extensive software differences of the CHAdeMO port. The CHAdeMO port software and hardware works for me today. (I used to be a CADCAM software salesman and advised caution about constant vaporware promises of competitors.) I was very grateful that Mitsubishi and Nissan are leading the way in proven safe Quick Charge technology and they are delivering today.